There's not a day goes by at the moment without a story somewhere in the media about the current economic situation and its impact on families across the country. The recent benefits changes have highlighted this once again. All of us are feeling the pinch right now and one of the first tips when you're looking to save money is to check all your monthly expenditure to see where you can save money. It's common practice to consider changing your utility suppliers to save money but I'm not sure quite as many consider whether or not to switch bank accounts to a better ... read more
Archives for April 2013
Review and Competition – Red Ted Art: The Book
I know I'm not the only person who let out a small squeal of delight when I heard that there was going to be a book version of Red Ted Art. Maggy Woodley's popular children's craft blog, Red Ted Art, has won awards and for many parents it is the first place they go when they are looking for craft projects to do with their children. Maggy's projects have also appeared elsewhere, both online and in print, and for her readers it seemed natural that the next step would be a book and finally the waiting is over. The subtitle of Red Ted Art the book is Cute and Easy Crafts for ... read more
Princess Evie’s Ponies: Confetti the Magic Wedding Pony
Simon and Schuster have sent me several Princess Evie books to review in the past and I have to admit that as I've not really liked the look of them much before (too much pink for my liking) I've not sat down and read them properly with Little Miss C and not reviewed them on here. This week Confetti the Magic Wedding Pony arrived and Little Miss C pounced on it as soon as she saw it. It seems she's got a bit of a pony obsession that I hadn't even realised - sorry! In each of the books (eight in total now) Princess Evie goes off on an adventure with one of her magical ... read more
Ping and Pong Are Best Friends (mostly) – Tim Hopgood
Who can resist a couple of penguins called Ping and Pong? Not me that's for sure! Basically, Ping and Pong are friends, best friends, but whenever Ping tries his hand at something he finds that Pong can already do it, but a million times better. Haven't we all had a friend like that? The question though is whether or not it is worth losing friends over. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but I have to say that it's wonderful to see a children's book addressing both the good and bad things about friendships as it's something that is so important to children. Little Miss ... read more
Review: Plenty Super Strong
I have to admit that when I received an email asking me to review Plenty Super Strong my first thought was "what on earth is there to say about kitchen roll?" But this particular PR had written a lovely personalised email so I took the time to read it again properly and agreed to go ahead. I sent over my postal address and didn't think much more of it. When a delivery man knocked on the door a couple of days later and handed over a large heavy parcel I was a bit puzzled. When I unwrapped it and found all this I was both delighted (after all there were Yorkshire tea bags AND ... read more
Go wild with Next at London Zoo
I've got a confession to make. One which might affect Little Miss C's political aspirations unless I declare it now. About a year ago she tried to shoplift a pair of shoes from our local branch of Next. There we were looking for a new pair of pumps for summer when I suddenly realised that she was no longer at my side. I had that panicky feeling in the pit of my stomach as I abandoned my quest for pumps and instead started shouting her name and running around the shop like a mad woman. As I happened upon the area full of seats for people to try on shoes I found a very ... read more
Little Miss C standing for election?
Local Council elections take place on Thursday 2 May this year and not only have party political leaflets been dropping through my door, but the local branch of the Lib Dems have also been rather busy on local streets getting residents to put up signs encouraging others to vote for their local candidate. I'm not sure if it's because the other parties haven't made an effort yet, or if everyone round here is planning to vote Lib Dem, but at present they're the only ones I've seen and with the orange colout they do seem to stand out well, especially on a slightly dreary day ... read more
Ladybird Tuesday: The Story of Furniture
Sorry, but I admit this has to be one of the least inspiring book titles ever and I struggle to imagine many children rushing out to buy this with their hard-earned pocket money! The Story of Furniture is part of the Ladybird Achievements series (601) and sits rather strangely alongside The Stories of Radio, the Motor Car and Flight. Others in the series do include Churches and Cathedrals, Clothes and Costume and also Arms and Armour - slightly less thrilling than Exploring Space that's for sure! I'm amazed how much there is to say about furniture and this book covers everything from ... read more
Challenging…
I think that's the most politically correct word to use for today, especially when today followed the weekend we've just had. This last weekend has been a particularly emotional and tiring one. We picked LMC up from nursery early on Friday and drove north to my Mum's house, before heading further north on Saturday to scatter my Dad's ashes on the North Yorkshire Moors. After weeks of cold windy weather we were lucky to see the Moors in their full sunlit glory and it really did feel like a very fitting final resting place for my Dad. He loved the Moors and many family memories ... read more
Science Filled Sunday
Little Miss C is still very much in love with her science kit and we get regular requests to do "speriments" with her, or she'll look through the experiment cards and decide which one she wants to do next. Easter Sunday was very much the same and she pulled on one particular card where the experiment was to look at the fact that oil and water do not mix and that water is also more dense than oil, meaning that the oil will float on the surface of the water. A bit of blue food colouring in the water made the difference between the two liquids a bit more obvious and she ... read more